boxee

After yesterday's much-lauded episode with Jill Schlesinger, Jeff, Justin, and Wilson are back to classic 404 goodness today. We're glad that for once in the world we can offer some helpful financial advice. And yes, we're still offering 404k options, so please send your checks to the show.

On today's show, we've got a First Look at the new Hulu Desktop app. It kind of destroys Joost and Boxee's previous efforts. For those of you who don't know, it's an actual application like Front Row or Windows Media Center that plugs into Hulu content and can be controlled with a remote. Pretty cool.

Also, we're pretty excited about Sonic the Hedgehog coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. Jeff and Justin don't like that the game will be controlled via tilt, but Wilson thinks that--considering you spend most of the game just hitting forward and jump--it's not really that big of a deal.

Finally, we spend the second half of the show picking up the pieces after Justin offends millions and millions of Dave Matthews Band fans, who call in to unleash their hatred. Hopefully, Justin learns never to mess with DMB fans again. They are rabid. After that, we spend the rest of the show going over the hundreds of 404 logo submissions. They are fantastic! Please continue to send them in. We're extending the contest until the beginning of next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Cable operators and media companies are cautiously dabbling in on-demand online video, but this is one case where caution could be as dangerous as recklessness.

Recently, the nation's two largest cable operators have been talking about offering their cable lineup to subscribers online so they can view their favorite shows on their computers. And now, YouTube, the site Viacom sued for more than a $1 billion in 2007 and threatened to have shut down, is signing deals with big studios like Sony Pictures and Lionsgate, as well as TV network CBS. (CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a … Read more

FatWallet.com, a company that provides online coupons and exclusive offers from retailers, announced the launch of a new site design Wednesday. Along with a new navigation tool, the site has added Coupon Search, which allows users to find valid coupons from retailers worldwide. According to the company, the redesign will also give users more chances to "share" and "subscribe" to the site via e-mail, social bookmarking, and RSS feeds. The site's new design is live now.

Spark Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in Internet and new-media companies, including Twitter and Boxee, announced … Read more

More than 800 digital-media enthusiasts in New York RSVP'd for a Tuesday night "meet-up" held by Boxee, the TV browser software company that's ambitiously (and controversially) aimed to make it possible to have a full Web content experience in your living room.

Right now, Boxee sources content from outlets such as Comedy Central, Netflix, CBS (which publishes CNET News), and Web video content hubs such as Blip.tv and Next New Networks.

In conjunction with the get-together, Boxee (still available only for Mac and Linux) made a few notable announcements: First of all, it's overhauled … Read more

ZeeVee has released the latest beta version of its Zinc "Internet video browser." Beta 3 of Zinc adds access to Netflix (for subscribers) and CBS (the parent company of CNET), in addition to such online video stalwarts as Hulu, ABC, YouTube, and the like. For now, Zinc is a free download for Windows PCs, though ZeeVee pledges that a Mac version is in development.

Zinc is an offshoot of the ZViewer software that was originally developed for ZeeVee's ZvBox Zv-100. We reviewed that product back in the autumn of 2008, and found it to be overly convoluted … Read more

We get a call from a person in Chicago directly affected by the idea of Craigslist shutting down the erotic section of its service. We also have a rousing discussion about the quality of digital music and Rafe comes close to telling a Bris joke. But he doesn't.

Compact Disc turns 30 http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/compact-disc-turns-30-mp3-doesnt-bother-to-send-a-gift/

Survey shows increasing preference for MP3 by youngsters, audiophiles weep http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/survey-shows-increasing-preference-for-mp3-by-youngsters-audiop/

Wolfram promises computing that answers questions http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/08/2155216 … Read more

2nd Update 10:10 a.m. Saturday: To include an updated statement from Boxee.

Update 4:30 p.m. To include quote from Boxee blog post.

Less than a day after Boxee made adjustments to again access Hulu's content, the video portal responded Friday by again blocking Boxee. But on Saturday morning, Boxee presumably made more changes and the service was back to accessing Hulu (who can keep up?).

Boxee is a startup that streams Web video to television set-top boxes. Dave Mathews, who works as an evangelist and adviser to the company, expressed frustration Friday at what has … Read more

Tom Dart, sheriff of Cook County, Ill., says Craigslist is the largest source of prostitution in the country and is suing the site to stop placement of advertisements for such services. But the other side of the story is that the site has also been a goldmine for law enforcement to make arrests for those perpetrating such crimes. CNET News reporters Greg Sandoval and Declan McCullagh talk about how the site helps sex workers weed out violent customers and aids police in catching those who prostitute children.

Also on today's podcast: Boxee sneaks Hulu back onto its service, an … Read more

Media-center start-up Boxee, which aggregates Web video for television set-top boxes, has launched a new version that restores access to video hub Hulu. The NBC Universal-News Corp. joint venture had pulled its content from Boxee after content partners took issue with it.

But it's not really the same: Boxee has brought back Hulu by extending its support for RSS feeds, and is pulling the video content in that way.

"Like IE, Firefox, or Google Reader, the RSS reader supports Google Video, Yahoo, YouTube and feeds from many other websites," a post on the Boxee blog by CEO … Read more